The present invention pertains to personal dive buoys and like open water surface markers. In particular, the invention regards inflatable dive buoys that are collapsible when not in use to provide a small size for ease of storage and portability.
Recreational diving, both with and without specialized underwater breathing equipment, is a sport found throughout the world and in most every body of water. When diving in open waters, such as with SCUBA equipment, a diver generally marks his location by use of a floating marker or buoy. This is a safety precaution to assure that any approaching boats do not overrun the diver. Many areas require, by statute or local regulation, that all divers be accompanied by a “diver down” flag visible above the water's surface. This is typically supported from a dive boat or a floating buoy or raft.
Various signal or flag-supporting dive floats and buoys are taught in the prior art as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,316 to Rumminger; No. 5,735,719 to Berg; No. 4,144,606 to McIntyre; No. 4,123,813 to Adams; and 6,273,773 to Bourke. One difficulty that any dive buoy design must address is the problem of supporting a flag in an upright orientation. Due both the inherent weight and height of any usefully sized flag, there is a tendency for a flag to fall over, either by distorting its base, or overturning its base. This problem is heightened in the presence of any but the lightest wind. This problem is addressed in prior designs in primarily two ways: 1) with a wide base support structure together with a rigid flag pole connection, or 2) by a below-surface counterweight. Retaining a flag pole in an upright orientation may be made easier by use of a rigid float as the buoyancy element. However, a rigid float is inconvenient for handling and storing before and after use, due to both its rigidity, and its inherently larger than convenient size. Several prior dive floats rely on a counterweight or anchor with minimal flagpole base support, such as the device of Rumminger (see above) on which a flag is mounted on the top of an inflated body. However, such a design is too easily overturned in the lightest wind. A design that provides good flag support is that taught in the Adams patent, which uses an inflatable annular float with a center flag support. However, the Adams design, and most inflatable buoys, are susceptible to damage and failure from puncture of the float. Once the float skin is punctured the entire device is disabled and lost for use.
An additional design issue with dive buoys is the need and desire to reduce their handling and storage size. Recreational diving with SCUBA equipment requires a large number and volume of specialized equipment. Transportation of this equipment is a burden that reduces the enjoyment of the sport for many people. Reflecting this, specialized gear bags have evolved to storage and transport personal diving equipment. There is a need to provide equipment that requires a minimum of space to reduce the equipment handling effort. Most dive floats available today are too bulky and add greatly to a diver's equipment burden. Most compact and easily stored dive floats rely on inflatable float elements that are not durable and therefore unreliable. What is needed is an improved dive float including a diver-down flag that is both durable and collapsible for easy handling and storage.